Tony

Last july I moved into a house built in 1978. As winter approached I notice that there was a popping noise from ceilng to floor especially in the early mornings. A went online and got some info as the floors started to squeak and I just noticed that the floor joist came loose from the rim joist. An engineer came out and gave no real solution. Whats going on and how can I fix it?

Aceinstaller

define "came loose"

if it is sitting on the bottom sill plate, you might consider some long screws or possibly a joist hanger from your local hardware store.

need detailed info for detailed advice

oldslowchevy

seeing how you live in mass i will tell you what is happening as the same thing happen to me when i lived in great barrington your home has a color on it(mine was dark blue)i am just taking a guess at this and as the sun comes up on a cold morning the sun is making your home expanad (nails go POP)and in the eveings if you lisen close you will hear a creak(home is now contracking)most times the nails go both in and out with this but sometimes the nails only go out and have to be hammered back in place.this is only a guess but that does happen though it isn't very common

inspectorD

Is this a south facing wall with many window's.
What type siding do you have? Is it aluminumn?
Do you have foundation cracks in this area of the joist?
Why didnt the engineer have a clue? Get an engineer who is also a home inspector and you might have a better explination. Someone like that can tie all the systems together.Generally an engineer is only a structural or specific trade engineer.

Do you see any bugs?
InspectorD

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Tony

by came loose, I mean the joists sit is sitting on the sill plate and is roughly 1 inch away from the band board.

Tony

thanks for the info

Tony

the wall is west facing, vinyl siding and there is a small foundation crack in the area and there are no bugs.

Aceinstaller

tony,

take a long close look at the rim joist from the exterior and interior of the home. is it the rim joist moving to the exterior of the home off of its original spot on the sill plate?

or is it from movement or shrinkage of the floor joist pulling the end of the floor joist towards the interior of the home?

If it is the movement of the rim joist. you will probably see a slight buckle in the exterior right at the spot that you are describing. if this is the case, take a siding removal tool, remove the siding in the area effected. then hammer the rim joist back into original position.(you might have to sink some 16 penny nails into the floor joist that it has separated from to pull it back in.) then screw in some angle brackets from the basement to the rim joists and the floor joists along the entire wall that is having problems. replace the siding, and walllaaaahhhh.

take care of the foundation crack with a proffesional that will driil and fill the crack with epoxy resin designed for such occasions.

Square Eye

WOW!

I wonder if it was just a bad cut? Some framers will leave a mess that they think you will never find. If the cut is just short, there is no perfect solution. A splice on both sides would help. I wonder if the floor could be expanding enough make the popping noise there. The floor is attached to the rim joist. If the floor joist is close enough to the edge of the green plate, there could be enough movement to cause a noise. The floor joist could be crushing the inside edge of the green plate. OR, the floor joist could be crushing under the load due to the lack of integral support from the rim joist.

You might have a pro to look at it if you can't tell what caused the short joist.

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inspectorD

What kind of heat do you have?
Is there a door in this area?
Do your exterior walls have a slight bow on the outside. You will see this if you look down the wall. Where there are no windows or doors in the way it will show up easier.
Is there any sign of crushing of wood at these areas?
I'm on the same page as SQ Eye, I think if it is only one joist that is short it was installed short.
If a couple of joists are short then this is different.
We need some better descriptions of everything that is going on ,but I think we can at least narrow it down.


InspectorD

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